Knitting machine



R. H. LAWSON KNITTING MACHINE July z, 1957 Fund Aug. 12, i955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 r r .V'I'u `11: L w N l0 L l' E *rg* r gf N v Y INVENTOR. LI/@qw E BloBeRT H. LAWSON N A Y ATTORNEYS July 2, 1957 R. H. LAwsN KNITTING MACHINE.

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INVENTOR. ROBERT H. LAWSON L l m M1117 ATTORNEYS United States Patent KNITTING MACHINE Robert H. Lawson, Pawtucket, R. I., assgnor to Scott & Williams,IncorporatedLaconia, N. H., a corporation of Massachusetts Application August; 1-2, 1955, Serial No. 527,936v

1,1 Claims. (Cl. 66-24) This invention relates to knitting machines and has particular reference tomachines having dials and cylinders and adapted to knit ribbed tops-of hosiery integrally with legs.

It has been recognized that in machines of thel type above mentioned highly desirable rib tops can be knit utilizing latch needles in the machine dial, these needles cooperating with alternate cylinder needlesinr-ib knitting, the rib knitting being followed by transfer of stitches to the cylinder needles for the production of plain knitting in the leg. Diiculties, however, arise in such machines particularly-when they are of small diameter, such as .for the knitting of childrens hoisery. The reason for this isk that in certain phases of the operation, and, in particular, in the transfer of stitches, the dial needles must be moved outwardly to a substantial radial extent which means that their full range of movement is quite substantial and they inner ends: of the needle shanks are required to move so far toward the axis of the dial that, if the needles were of suicient length to prevent tilting, their inner shank ends would meet due to radial convergence of their paths. Shortening of the needles in the dial causes them to lose adequate guidance with the result` that the needles would be free to tilt upwardly or downwardly tol such extent as to: prevent their proper operation.

In accordance with the present invention, each needle,

While relatively short,- is. associated' withy a guide member fixed near the dial spindle and: having a portion extending-in' a, grooveI milled lengthwise in the needle shank so that as the needle movesradiallyoutwardlyv it is. adequately supported against tipping, Furthermore, inspite of the shortness of the needle, the guide imparts; to the needle smooth accurate frictionl over its entire range, of movementsrv 'llhe general object of the invention is, accordingly, the. provision of a suitable arrangement in a dial andl cylinder machine involvingjlatch needles inthe dial which will properly control. the needles as just mentioned and, inV particular, make possible the use, of latch needlesv in machines of small dianzler.. This. general object and other objects of the invention relating particularly to.V details of construction and operation will become apparent from the following description, readV in cflnjunctionAv with the accompanying drawings, inwhichzf Figures l, 2 and 3 are generally similar axial sectional viewsf showing dial and Cylinder needles` various. phases of operation;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary section taken on the plane indicatedl at 4-4 in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is an inside development showing, in particular, the needle-controlling cams associated with cylinder needles;` and Figure 6 is, a horizontal sectional view cams for control of,dial' 1 i ee d les.VV l

The drawings. show only so much. of a conventional knitting machine. as isnartieularly involved in the present invention, and it will be understood that aside; fromy the parts shown the machine. embodies. conventional elements,-

lshowing the.

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2` and controls required for the production of complete stockings. The usual cylinder, not shown, mounts in axial slots needles 2 provide with the usual butts 3, the

butts, as usual, being of shortand long type, eachl disposed in a group subtending approximately halfthe cylinder circumference. Also associated with the needles in the cylinder slots are conventional jacks, notshown, arranged for selection under the action of conventional pattern mechanism for differentiation of needles to cause them to follow predetermined paths. In particular, this dilferentiation involves the separation of alternate needles so that during rib formation only alternate cylinder, needles are in operation, the intermediate cylinder needles then being idle.

A dial 4 which rotates with the needle cylinder is carried by a shaft 6 driven in conventional fashion. The machine will be described as of the rotary cylinder and dial type, but it will be understood that the invention is equally applicable tothe type of machine involving a stationary cylinder and stationary` dial relative to which the needle and other controlling cams revolve.

They dial 4 is provided with. a circumferential groove 8 adjacent to the shaft 6 providing an annular shoulder, and with a further circumferential groove 10 into which there open the inner ends of the radial -dial slots 12 which are enlarged at their outer ends 14 to receive stitches drawn by the dial needles. Fins 16 on the lower side of the dialare arrangedv in usual fashion to'cooperate with sinkers (not shown) interspersed between the cylinder needles 2.

In a smaller diameter machine having a large number of needles, the slots 12, if extended' substantially inwardly of theV outer circumference of thel groove 10, would intersect each other and,y needle Shanks moving therein would, if movedsufciently radially inwardly, engage and jam in such region.

In accordance with the present invention, dial needles are provided which are indicated generally at 18, these dial needles being provided at their outer ends with hooks 20 with which cooperate the pivoted latches 22'. Inwardly positioned beyond the spoons of the latches when they are in open position are shoulders 23 which, as will appear hereafter, engage and position stitches on the needles during a transfer operation. The Shanks 24 of the needles, whichhave a vertical height corresponding to the depth of the dial grooves 1.2', carry butts 26 which are of longA and shortv lengths, a long butt being illustrated in Figures l, 2 and 3, while short butts terminate at the height indicated at 28 in Figure l. Desirably, dial needles having longA butts occupy the same portion of the circumference as cylinder needles having long butts, and dial needles having short butts occupy the same portion of they circumference as cylinder needles having short butts. Half as many dial needles are provided as there are cylin- V der needles, the dial needles being substantially aligned axially with alternate cylinder needles which are inactive during rib knitting. (For consistency of description, it will be assumed that ribknitting of l x l type is involved, though as will become ultimately apparent, other rib arrangements may be equally'knit). v

Radially inwardly of the butts 26 the needle Shanks are extended, terminating zit-30, Figure 1 shows a dial needle in the innermost position which it is required to assume in a knittingy operation and it will be noted that the inner ends 30 of the needle Shanks are in the general region of the outermost circumference of the groove 10. In this innermost position the ends 30 of the needle Shanks do not meet each other, but the position indicated in Figure l illustrates substantially the extreme of inward movement which is permissible without such meeting of the needle Shanks.

In contrast with Figure l, attention may now be drawn to Figure 3 which shows an extreme outward position required of a dial needle. As indicated in that figure, the dial needle must travel outwardly to a position br1nging the shoulder 23 substantially beyond the periphery of theV dial 4. Such outward movement is required for proper transfer as will be hereafter described. Considering Figures land 3, it will be evident that the overall lengths of the dial needles are quite substantially restricted and to such extent that the openings presented by simple dial camming would permit quite substantial tilting of the dial needles which would at least interfere with uniformity of formation of stitches. It may also be noted that, in order to insure stilfness of the dial needles to prevent circumferential bending, they can have no less than a certain minimum thickness, so that there is a practical limit `to the extent that, by making the needles thinner, they could be permitted to move further radially inwardly without interference of their innermost ends.

In accordance with the present invention, tilting of the dial needles is prevented by providing milled grooves 32 in their shanks arranged to receive outwardly extending tongues 34 of elements 3S provided with enlarged inner end portions 36 received in the groove 8 and bound between its outer wall and shaft 6 and held by a central portion of the dial cap, not shown. These members 35 may be formed of sheet steel which has substantially less thickness than the needles though presenting extensions 34 which have very substantial stiffness against flexing in an axial direction. Furthermore, even in the outermost positions of the needles the extensions 34 have substantial bearing areas with the upper and lower walls of the needle grooves 32. The result is that, even though the extensions are of substantially less thickness than the width of the needle grooves in the dial and, hence, are not supported by these grooves themselves against circumferential tlex ure, they serve to prevent any axial tilting of the needles. Being of substantially less thickness than the needle Shanks, furthermore, they may extend inwardly to the exterior of the dial supporting shaft 6 whereat they are bunched together, though requiring no accurate circumferential indexing.

By slightly distorting the extensions 34 out of plane form, they exert due to their resilience a slight pressure action onithe needles, giving rise to a uniform, smooth frictional retardation of the needle movements.

To complete the picture of the dial needles, it will be noted that each of them is provided with a beveled hollow portion 38 which serves for the guidance of the hook end of a corresponding cylinder needle during a stitch transfer operation. The bevel 38 may occur on either side of a needle.

Referring now to Figure 5, the cams controlling the needles by action on their butts include the forward and reverse stitch cams 40 and 42, respectively, the center cam 4, the rise cam 46, a needle lowering cam 48, and cams 50 and 52. Cams 48, 50 and 52 are radially movable during operation. Various other conventional cams may be provided together with conventional pickers, but these are not illustrated since they have merely their conventional functions and are not concerned with the subject matter of the present invention.

A jack raising cam S4 is provided serving to act on selected jacks to differentiate needles in the usual fashion, selection of jacks being carried out as usual.

Figure 6 illustrates the cams which act upon the dial needle butts. The dial needle stitch cam is indicated at 56 and `is fixed and always operating. Another fixed cam which serves to move the dial needles inwardly is indicated at 58. Axially movable cams 60, 62 and 64 serve also to act upon the dial needle butts as will presently be explained. In order to make clear the phase relationships of the cylinder `needle and dial needle controlling cams, certain axially corresponding planes are indicated in Figures 5 and 6 by the letters A, B, C and D.

Certain operations of the machine may now be described, particularly to make clear the necessity for substantial radial movements of the dial needles giving rise to the diiculties previously mentioned and which are solved by the utilization of the present invention.

First, there may be considered makeup on bare needles. Prior to the makeup no yarn is being fed to the needles, and in preparation for the makeup cam S0 is fully Withdrawn and alternate cylinder needles, which are those which will knit in the cylinder during rib formation, are raised by jacks passing over cam 54, the jacks having been selected by the conventional pattern mechanism acting thereon. The action of cam 54 on the jacks of these alternate needles serves to raise them to clearing height so that they pass over the reverse stitch cam 42 to be lowered by cams 44 and 40. Dial needle clearing cam 62 is lowered over short butt dial needles, and as long butt dial needles are moved outwardly by cam 62 and inwardly by cam 56, cam 62 is fully lowered to engage both long and short butts. Yarn is introduced a few needles ahead of the leading short butt needle. Themakeup course is thus knitted on the dial needles and the interposed cylinder needles. Then, during the passage of the long butt dial needles the cam 62 is moved up to miss short butts, while still acting on long butts, and then as it is being passed by the short butt needles it is completely raised.

Since stitches have now been formed, the alternate cylinder needles which pass over the reverse stitch cam 42 may produce normal knitting for one or more courses while the dial needles continue to hold the stitches which they have drawn in the makeup course.

. Following the formation of sufficient welt fabric, rib knitting is started by lowering cam 62 in steps, first, as short butt needles are passing, to a position to engage long butts, and then as the long butt needles pass this cam,

' still further to engage short butts as well. The action of cam 62 is to clear latches of the dial needles and it will be evident that as the knitting then continues l x l rib formation will take place.

Following the completion of a predetermined extent of rib knitting, transfer of stitches to the inactive cylinder needles takes place as follows:

Cams 64 and 60 are lowered as short butt needles pass them to cause them to act on long butts, and cam 50 is moved in as short butt cylinder needles pass it so that transfer will begin on the leading long butt cylinder needle. The corresponding long butt needle in the dial is moved outwardly by cam 64, and since this cam also effects clearing of the latch, the stitch is released as the dial needle moves inwardly on cam 58. This transfer action continues on the long butt needles and then the cams just mentioned are moved` further to engage short butts with the result that transfer occurs between needles of both the long and short butt series. It may be noted that clearing cam 62 remains in action and continues to move outwardly the empty needles in the dial, but since they are drawn in again by cam 60, they do not take yarn and the transfer is therefore completed. Following the transfer, cam 64 may be withdrawn at any convenient time.

The actual transfer operation -occurs as indicated in Figure 3. The dial needle in this igure is shown in the outermost position to which it is moved by cam 64. In this condition, the bevel 38 is aligned axially with the previously inactive corresponding cylinder needle which is caused to rise against the dial needle, being deflected by the bevel 38. It will be noted from Figure 3 that the stitch carried by the dial needle is moved outwardly by shoulder 23 beyond the radial position of the cylinder needle, which accordingly enters the stitch preceding that held by the dial needle, i. e. the stitch which was formed by that dial needle in the previous course. Following the completion of the transfer, plain knitting proceeds in conventional fashion on the cylinder needles only.

The makeup has been described as starting on bare needles, but the top or Welt may be started while alternate cylinder needles are knitting either a pre-welt tab or, as in string work, wherein a draw thread structure is produced to enable the stockings to be separated. In either of these last cases the operation would be generally as described above, except that the yarn linger would already have been lowered at the time the welt was started, and cam 60 is lowered with cam 62 over short butt nedles and as long butt needles are moving out and back cam 62 is fully lowered while cam 60 remains in posi- `tion to act on long butts only. The long butt needles accordingly miss the yarn being knit by the alternate cylinder needles, while the short butt needles pass beneath cam 60, remaining out to take the yarn to form the rst part of the makeup course as loops are drawn at stitch cam 56. At this time cam 60 is fully raised. Operations thereafter continue as described above.

From the above the necessity for a large range of radial movement of the dial needles relative to their permissible lengths in a small diameter machine will be evident, and the advantages following from the invention will be apparent.

What is claimed is:

1. In a circular knitting machine of the dial and cylinder type, needles respectively mounted in slots in the dial and cylinder, and members individual to the dial needles xedly located in the central portion of the dial against axial movements, said members and dial needles having slidably cooperating portions engaging each other on surfaces substantially at right angles to the dial axis whereby tilting movements of said dial needles in the direction of the dial axis are substantially prevented during their radial movements.

2. In a circular knitting machine of the dial and cylinder type, needles respectively mounted in slots in the dial and cylinder, and members individual to the dial needles xedly located in the central portion of the dial against axial movements, said members and dial needles having slidably cooperating tongue and groove portions whereby tilting movements of said dial needles are substantially prevented during their radial movements.

3. In a circular knitting machine of the dial and cylinder type, needles respectively mounted in slots in the dial and cylinder, and members individual to the dial needles xedly located in the central portion of the dial against radial and axial movements, said members and dial needles having slidably cooperating portions engaging each other on surfaces substantially at right angles to the dial axis whereby tilting movements of said dial needles in the direction of the dial axis are substantially prevented during their radial movements.

4. In a circular knitting machine of the dial and cylinder type, needles respectively mounted in slots in the dial and cylinder, and members individual to the dial needles xedly located in the central portion of the dial against radial and axial movements, said members and dial needles having slidably cooperating tongue and groove portions whereby tilting movements of sa-id dial needles are substantially prevented during their radial movements.

5. In a circular knitting machine of the dial and cylinder type, needles vrespectively mounted in slots in the dial and cylinder, and members individual to the d-ial rneedles ixedly located in the central portion of the dial whereby tilting movements of said dial needles are suby stantially prevented during their radial movements.

6. In a circular knitting machine of the dial and cylinder type, needles respectively mounted in slots in the dial and cylinder, and members individual to the dial needles xedly located in the central portion of the dial against radial and axial movements, said members having radially outwardly extending tongues and said dial needles having radially extending grooves slidably receiving said tongues, whereby tilting movements of said dial needles are substantially prevented during their radial movements.

7. In a circular knitting machine of the dial and cylinder type, needles rsepectively mounted -in slots in the ydial and cylinder, yand members individual vto the dial needles lfixedly located in the central portion of the dial against radial movements, :said members and dial needles having slidably cooperating tongue and groove portions imposing, 'by spring action, friction resisting radial movements of the dial needles.

8. In a circular knitting machine of the dial and cylinder ty-pe, needles respectively mounted in slots in the dial and cylinder, rand members individual to the dial needles lixedly located in the central portion of the dial against radial movements, said members having radially outwardly extending tongues and said dial needles having radially extending grooves slidably receiving said tongues, the -tongues being sprung to impose, by spring action, friction resisting radial movements of the dial needles.

9. IIn a circular knitting machine of the dial and cylinder type, needles respectively mounted in slots in .the dial and cylinder, :and members individual to the dial needles xedly located in the central portion of the dial against lradial and axial movements, said members and dial needles having slidably cooperating portions engaging each other on surfaces substantially :at right angles to the dial axis and imposing, by spring action, friction resisting radial 'movement-s of the dial needles, and whereby tilting movements of said dial needles in the direction of the di-al axis `a-re substantially prevented during their radi-al movements.

l0. In a circular knitting machine lof Ithe dial and cylinder type, needles respectively mounted in slots in the dial and cylinder, and members individual to the dial needles xedly located in the central portion of the dial 'against radial a-nd axial movements, said members and dial needles having slidably cooperating tongue and groove portions imposing, by spring action, friction resisting radial movements of the dial needles, and whereby tilting movements of said di-al needles .are substantially prevented during their radial movements.

'11. lIn a circular knitting machine of the dial and cylinder type, needles respectively mounted in slots in the dial and cylinder, and members individual .to the dial needles fixedly located in the central portion of the dial against radial land axial movements, said members having radially outwardly extending tongues and `said dial needles having radially extending grooves slidably receiving said tongues, the tongues being sprung to impose, by spring action, friction resisting radi-al movements of the dial needles, and whereby tilting movements of sa-id dial needles are substantially prevented during their radial movements.

1,241,882 Pope et al Oct. 2, l9=17 Michcon et al Dec. 8, 1963 l 

